UKRAINIAN REGIONAL
REPORT
Newsletter-2002
August
3th 2002
Issue #3(13)
The project "Ukrainian Regional Report" was supported by the International Renaissance Foundation and the Democracy Fund of the U.S. Embassy, Kyiv
URR Editor:
Laryssa Mudrak
URR Deputy editor:
Iryna
Solonenko
English
translation:
Natalia
Nemylivska
The bulletin was prepared by:
Ivan Kul’chytskyi (L’viv),
Viktor Nesterenko (Donetsk),
Volodymyr Holovko (Dnipropetrovsk),
Volodymyr Poshva (Sumy),
Andriy Kryshtal’sky (Lutsk),
Ivan Kostiuk (Ivano-Frankivsk).
Kyiv Centre of
the EastWest
Institute
Khreshchatyk str. 10B
6th floor
Kyiv
01001
Ukraine
tel. (+38 044) 4620053/54
fax. (+38 044)
4620052
kyivcentre@iews.kiev.ua
The East West Institute and the URR wishes to extend their deepest sympathies to the families and victims of the tragic air crash that took place at the Sknyliv Airport in L’viv on July 27, 2002.
Lviv Oblast
After the tragic crash, L’viv has become the center of attention. For the last month the city has been threatened with their water supply being cut-off. L’viv Oblenergo might cut-off Lvivodocanal from its electricity network due to debts. L’viv Oblenergo has developed a plan whereby 100% of the debts can be paid off. As of June 1, 2002, Lvivodocanal owes 46 258 008 UAH. According to L’viv Oblenergo, the company will not be responsible for any ecological or other repercussions in connection with turning off Lvivodocanal’s electric supply.
The water supply question in L’viv has become a political one. Lyubomyr Bunyak became the city's mayor with promises of providing water to the city within 2 years.
The main problems: Lviv's location from the main sources of drinking water, old canal and piping system in the city center, Lvivvodokanal debts owed to Lvivoblenergo. L’viv city dwellers, organizations, and companies are also are responsible for a major part of the debts.
It has been calculated that Lviv residents use twice as much water as other people in eastern Ukrainian cities. An experiment done at the Sykhiv section of the city indicated that a flat without a gas meter used: in 1999 -391 cubic meters of gas, in 2000 -346, in 2001 -293, while in another flat with a gas meter used: in 1999- 111 cubic metres, in 2000- 99.7, and in 2001-79.9.
L’viv's administration is working towards getting a 12 million dollar loan from the World Bank to improve the water supply system. According to the director of the department of regional development, Paul Mitchell, the World Bank has made a decision and intends to help in improving the water supply in L’viv by giving Lvivodcanal a loan in the sum of 24 million dollars.
De-facto situation
The water in L’viv continues to be supplied according to schedule.
There is no hot water. People heat water on the stove, and as a result, the number of burns is increasing especially among children.
Water is purified through chlorination.
It is becoming increasingly popular to collect water from various wells in and outside the city. A very popular well is located near the Vysoky Zamok.
In contrast with Kyiv, the offices in L’viv rarely have a system for water purification.
Wealthier L’vivyany get independent heating water systems put into their flats.
Almost weekly there are accidents related to the water supply system: pipes bursting and water spraying onto the streets.
Kyiv
At the same time, the Hryhoriy Semchuk of the State Committee Housing and Communal Utilities declared that more that 30% of the communal utility networks in Ukraine are in hazardous condition, and every third building needs repair.
If the housing and communal utilities complex in Ukraine is not reformed soon, it will crash completely. According to him, in the last 10 years there has been no thorough reform. At the same time, the population has accumulated a 7.5 billion UAH debt, while the debt for electricity, gas and communal utilities totals 40 million UAH. The most important thing that has to be done is to rework the system of administration for this part of the economy, to develop specific plans of action. In order to achieve this, the oblast state administration, and the structures of self-government will be engaged.
Volyn’ Oblast
Only 40% of the people living in Volyn Oblast have water, only a quarter of them have hot water. According to the statistics, water supply is one of the most pressing issues now. During one of the last public opinion polls carried out by the agency Sotsium- XXI, it became clear that 31% of the people in the city of Lutsk believe the lack of water to be one the main problems facing the city.
In connection with this, the local press publishes official explanations put forth by the Lutsk city administration. The City Council Head, Anton Kryvytsky and his deputies, hold that shutting-off off the water until October of this year in order to pay-off debts will be unrealistic. Currently, companies in this branch of industry have turned to taking people to court for debts. The Lutskvodocanal has filed 13 cases at the oblast level and 63 cases at the city level.
Optimism lies only in the fact that the water in Lutsk is widely believed among the best in all of Ukraine.
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
The situation with the water supply in Prykarpattya is on the edge of crisis. This has been caused by the fact that the citizens of Ivano-Frankivsk owe millions of hryvnia in debt to the public corporation “Prykarpattiaoblenergo” (Prykarpattya regional energy). This energy supplying company has ceased supplying electric energy leaving the pumping plant without electricity. The city can stay without cold water for hours or even days. This in not to mention that there is no hot water at all in Ivano-Frankivsk for the summer period. The purification of water is also quite a problem for cities of the region. People still remember the times when the local company “Barva” during a very short period of time had to start producing a special substance for water purification called “Coagulant”. Before that, this substance was being brought from Dnipropetrovsk at monopoly high prices. The local company had to quickly produce 40 tones of the substance after filters for purification of water was broken and the city faced the situation of no drinking water. This critical situation, although successfully resolved, showed that the purification of drinking water in Prykarpattia is in crisis. Technical weaknesses of dams also often cause the pollution of tap water, and the regional sanitary epidemiological station alluded to this. Local authorities however claim they cannot change the situation for better, since they do not have appropriate funding.
Poltava Oblast
Although it’s quite a paradox, but cities/towns and villages most close to the Dnipro river suffer from the lack of drinking water. This problem is the most acute in Kremenchug and Komsomolsk. Lately it was revealed that the water coming from the Dnipro contains too much manganese. That is why the residents of these cities do not risk using this water for drinking and cooking. Instead barreled drinking water can be found in the city and one can buy such water for 15 kopiika per liter. Also, people buy a lot of mineral water and drinking water in plastic bottles. The problem is even more complicated since the lake Pivnichna proriz’, which has always been considered as a reserve of drinking water for Kremenchug, is also polluted.
According to Kremenchug city mayor Mykola Hluhov, it is necessary to change the current open water pumping system to that of a closed one. However, according to experts’ estimation, this will cost approximately 150 million hryvnia, which is a problematic amount of money for the city. As of today, the Government of Ukraine gave Kremenchug only 2 million hryvnia to solve its water problems. This amount will be spent for reagents, which are necessary in order to pirify Dnipro water being supplied to apartments.
The material published in the Newsletter may not be reproduced without consent of the publisher. The views expressed in the Newsletter are not necessarily the views of the publisher.
EastWest Institute
New York · Prague · Kyiv · Moscow · Belgrade· Brussels